Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok is Cygames’ latest attempt at bringing the hugely popular mobile game Granblue Fantasy to console players and, naturally, claiming a sweet chunk of that money. Unlike the previous release, Granblue Fantasy: Versus, which was a fighting game developed by Arc System Works, Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok takes the form of an action RPG with a heavy emphasis on Monster Hunter and MMO style raid gameplay. Instead of throwing hands with other players, you’ll be brawling through hordes of enemies and taking down towering bosses alongside three other party members.

Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok takes plenty of inspiration from games like God Eater and Monster Hunter. At first, you’ll simply follow the main story, but these early missions are essentially extended tutorials that give you a taste of what awaits in the post game, where the vast majority of the content resides and where you’ll ultimately spend most of your time. Along the way, the campaign introduces the different hunting areas, a variety of mission objectives, some light exploration, and the game’s many systems over the course of a few hours. It’s a perfectly serviceable introduction, but once the credits roll, you’ll inevitably become a servant to the game’s Quest Counter. This is where the real game begins, acting as the hub for the post game, multiplayer, and more quests and challenges than you’ll realistically know what to do with.

The combat in Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok is heavily action focused, striking a satisfying balance between the combo driven gameplay of character action games and the fast paced chaos of the Musou series. There’s always something happening during battles, with massive area attacks to dodge, opportunities for perfect blocks and evasions, combo strings to master, and a wide variety of special abilities that can be unleashed at the press of a button. Some of these skills are governed by cooldowns, while others can be fired off as quickly as you can mash the input. It all comes together in a combat system that’s both intuitive and genuinely fun to learn.

What really elevates it, however, is that you’re not locked into playing as Gran for the entire adventure. You can swap to virtually any member of the cast, and each character comes with a distinct playstyle that feels meaningfully different from the rest. So, if the Captain’s relatively straightforward swordplay doesn’t quite click with you, there’s a good chance you’ll find a character whose abilities are more to your liking, whether that’s a spellcaster, a nimble fighter, or something in between.

Combat can, and absolutely will, become incredibly hectic. Alongside managing your own abilities, you’ll also need to pay attention to what your allies, whether AI controlled or human, are doing. This creates a dynamic battlefield where you’re constantly keeping one eye on the boss and the other on the chaos unfolding around you. You’ll be dodging incoming area attacks, positioning enemies for maximum damage, and making the most of healing pools whenever they appear.

On top of that, there are Link Attacks that let you team up with another party member for a powerful strike, as well as flashy full party Link Bursts that can deal devastating damage when the entire crew joins in. Once you reach the post game in Endless Ragnarok, you’ll even gain access to summons, adding yet another layer to the already packed combat system. With so many mechanics constantly coming into play, the game’s lengthy boss fights rarely lose their sense of excitement.

My biggest issue with the combat is how spongy it can feel, especially during the story campaign. This becomes much less of a problem once you reach the post game, but throughout the opening hours you’ll spend a lot of time fighting groups of smaller enemies that barely react to your attacks. As a result, combat can feel oddly lacking in impact. I suspect this is because the game is primarily designed around battling gigantic bosses that naturally shrug off weaker attacks, only flinching when you unleash your most powerful abilities. Against ordinary enemies, however, it often feels like you’re slicing through water with a hot knife. They offer almost no resistance or visual feedback until they simply keel over.

Grinding is the name of the game in Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok. You’ll spend most of your time hunting giant monsters, diving through the game’s seemingly endless menus, and gathering enough materials and experience to strengthen your characters and weapons. Then it’s time to tackle stronger versions of those same monsters and repeat the process all over again. If you’re already a fan of games like Monster Hunter, you’ll know exactly what you’re signing up for and will probably relish the pursuit of the perfect build. It’s worth mentioning, though, that Endless Ragnarok throws an intimidating number of progression systems at you. Between upgrading weapons, characters, Sigils, and a variety of other mechanics, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out exactly what should be your next priority.

Since Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok is an expansion to the original Granblue Fantasy: ReLink, newcomers are getting an enormous amount of content for their money. The base game was already more than happy to consume hundreds of hours as you endlessly hunted monsters and perfected your builds, but Endless Ragnarok takes that foundation and piles on even more. There’s additional story content, new playable characters, and a wealth of extra post game activities. One of the standout additions is a roguelike mode called Conflux, which offers condensed runs that let players sample the challenge and progression of the endgame without committing to marathon hunting sessions. It’s a great alternative for anyone who wants to jump in for a quick run instead of spending hours assembling the perfect loadout before every hunt.

The main story clocks in at roughly fifteen to twenty hours, with the Endless Ragnarok expansion adding another handful of hours on top. It definitely feels like Cygames has employed the classic trick of disguising the tutorial as a full campaign, using story missions and cutscenes to gradually introduce every mechanic before finally letting you loose in what is clearly the real game: the post game. That’s where Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok truly comes into its own, offering enough quests, progression, and monster hunting to comfortably keep you busy for hundreds of hours. If you’re coming into this expecting a lengthy, story driven JRPG first and foremost, though, you may find yourself a little underwhelmed by the comparatively brief campaign.

While the game is perfectly enjoyable solo thanks to a surprisingly competent AI party, you can also take the adventure online with up to three other players, whether they’re friends or complete strangers, and tackle the Quest Counter’s endless supply of missions together. This is undoubtedly where the game shines the brightest. Coordinating Link Attacks, covering for one another, and bringing down massive bosses as a team feels far more satisfying than relying on AI companions.

That’s not to say the computer controlled party members are dead weight, because they’re actually more than capable of holding their own if you’d rather stay offline. Even so, it’s obvious that Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok was designed with cooperative play at the forefront.

The presentation in Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok is nothing short of phenomenal. Its art direction stays remarkably faithful to the source material while looking spectacular in motion. To dust off an old cliché, it really does feel like playing through an anime. Every environment is vibrant and full of life, the character models are beautifully realized, and the game’s visual style does a fantastic job of bringing the world of Granblue Fantasy to life in a way the series has never quite managed before. Granblue Fantasy: Versus was already an attractive game, but ReLink Endless Ragnarok operates on an entirely different level. On Nintendo Switch 2 especially, it’s an astonishing showcase and comfortably one of the best looking games currently available on the system.

One thing that genuinely surprised me about Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok was that it features a complete English dub. I honestly wasn’t expecting that, considering that while the franchise is hugely popular, it still hasn’t quite broken out of the anime crowd in the West. Thankfully, the dub is excellent, with performances from industry veterans like Kira Buckland and Kyle McCarley helping bring the cast to life. If you’re after a more “authentic” experience, you can switch to the original Japanese voices at any time, but I found myself sticking with the English dub. It’s much easier to keep track of what’s being said when you’re busy dodging giant explosions and trying not to become a stain on the battlefield.

Performance on the Nintendo Switch 2 is perfectly fine. The game targets a locked 30fps, and following a day one patch, noticeable slowdown is surprisingly rare. Sure, I would’ve loved the option of a stable 60fps, or even a 40fps mode as a compromise, but it’s easy to see where the development team’s priorities were. Rather than sacrificing the game’s stunning visuals, they opted for a more conservative performance target, and the results speak for themselves. Outside of the occasional moment where the screen is overflowing with effects, Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok holds up very well. I can’t complain too much when it looks this good.

Granblue Fantasy: ReLink Endless Ragnarok is a fun and highly engaging experience if you’re the kind of player who enjoys an endless grind and the satisfaction of slowly perfecting a build. If, however, you’re looking for a more traditional action JRPG with a lengthy, story driven campaign, you may come away a little disappointed by its relatively short runtime. This is a game built for a very specific audience: players who are more than happy to fight the same bosses dozens of times, steadily growing stronger so they can take on even tougher challenges. It’s at its absolute best with a group of friends, where the cooperative gameplay truly shines. As a purely solo adventure for someone seeking an immersive narrative experience, though, you may be better served looking elsewhere.